Grinding machine



Oct. 30, 1934. H, w, JOHNSON 1,978,674

7 GRINDING MACHINE Original Filed March 21, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet l H. W. JOHNSON GRINDING MACHINE Original Filed March 21, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 30, 1934. H. w. JOHNSON GRINDING MACHINE Original Filed March 21. 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet Patented Oct. 30, 1934 GRINDING MACHINE Herbert W. Johnson, Chicago, Ill., assignor to American Coil Spring Company, Chicago, Ill., a.

corporation of Illinois Application March 21, 1930, Serial No. 437,661 Renewed June-29, 1934 2 Claims. (01. 51-118) My. invention relates to grinding apparatus and it has particular relation to the provisions of a grinding machine for economically and efficiently grinding or squaring the ends of coiled springs.

I am especially interested in providing a machine of such character that the grinding of springs may be accomplished with a minimum of manual effort on the part of the one operating the machine and wherein the grinding elements are so. positioned and arranged that appreciable :atdjustments of the heavy portions of the machine may be speedily and effectively made.

The advantages resident in a machine emodying my invention will be better understood in connection with the structural featuresthere- .of together with-an understanding of the accompanying drawings, in which latter:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a machine mbodying my invention; 1

Fig.2 is a top plan view of the machine shown Fig. l; l

. IFig. 31s a partial elevational sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

,Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view takenon the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary elevational sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2 and illustrating the manner of adjusting certain operating portions of my machine; and

, Fig. 6 is a fragmentary plan view taken on the .line 6--6 of Fig. 5.

Referring now in particular to the drawings,

my invention comprises a frame or bed member 10 having a medially situated cylindrical housing 11 projecting upwardly therefrom, said housing being open at the front or feeding end of the machine and to the right as viewed in Figure 3.

A standard 12 provides a bearing for a shaft 13.

At one end said shaft is connected by desirable connecting and operating members (not shown in detail) to a driving pulley 14, said connecting elements being seated in a movable housing 15.

On the other end of the shaft 13 is mounted a carrier' wheel 16, said wheel being secured to the shaft by a nut 1'7 and being driven in a direction determined by the driving direction of pulley 14.

The entire housing 15 and shaft bearing 12 is slidably mounted on a suitable guide forming V '50 a part of the frame 10, so that the work carrier disc 16 may be adjusted toward or from the axis of the grinding wheels, which latter will be described later, and may be secured in position by any suitable means. By this adjustment means, when springs need only a small amount of grind,

ing, the carrierwheel may. be moved outwardly and driven at a higher speed and only overlap the grinding wheels a small amount and produc tion may be thereby increased. i i

The wheel 16 is of solid construction and of substantial thickness, being provided with a plurality of cylindrical apertures 18 equally spaced about its periphery. Figures 2 and 3 illustrate the manner in which said carrier wheel 16 is positioned so that one portion thereof extends outside the housing 11. The springs, the ends of which it is desired to square by grinding operations, are placed in said apertures 18 as best shown in Figure 4. Thereafter the rotation of If wheel 16 carries said springs downwardly (see Fig. 3) and between the side portions of a shroud 19 thereby insuring the centering and correct positioning of the springs in the apertures 18 of the carrier wheel 16 prior to the contacting of the peripherally seated springs with the grinding mechanism, it being observed that said shroud extends along a portion of each side of the wheel, said portions being converging to effectuate said correct positioning of the springs in the carrier wheel.

Said grinding mechanism comprises two grinding wheels 20 and 21,,the same being independently mounted and rotated on either side of the carrier wheel 16. The mounting and operating mechanism of the aforesaid grinding wheels being very much the same, I will here describe in detail only one of said wheels and its associated elements.

Said wheel 21 is carried on a shaft journalled in a frame portion 22, said frame serving as a support for a shaft 23 upon which said grinding wheel 21 is mounted, it being observed that the wheel 21 is situated within the housing 11. On the other end of shaft 23 is positioned a pulley 24, a Texrope drive 25 connecting said pulley 24 to a similar pulley 26 secured to the shaft of motor 27, the latter being the driving unit for the wheel 21.

I have numbered the corresponding parts associated with wheel 20 in a manner similar to those Accordingly, the ends of the springs are ground very accurately in their passage from the lower portions of the grinding wheels AA to the upper portions BB (see Fig. 3), and a continuous, steady operation is effected on the springs. Moreover, the grinding surfaces are in contact with the ends of the springs throughout the grinding operation.

It is frequently desirable and necessary quickly and without loss of time to vary the angle of divergence of the grinding wheels and the accomplishment of this object is another major advantage resident in my invention.

The frame or mounting members 22-22 are seated on portions 28-28 respectively extending upwards from the bed member 10 and are bolted thereto by bolts 29-29. The member 22at the end thereof nearest the grinding wheel casingrests on a roller bearing 30 (see Fig. 5), which bearing is seated in journal portions 31 and 32, the journal groove 31 extending across the member 22, while the groove,or hemicylindrical portion,32 extends across the member 28. The aforesaid bolts 29--29 pass directly through the bearing member 30 and serve to secure the mounting frame member 22 to the frame member 28, as best shown in Fig. 5. The said bolts 29 so secure the members 22 and 28 together that one may be rotated with respect to the other about the bearing member 30.

This rotation is effected by the bearing and adjusting mechanism shown at the right-hand side of Fig. 5. A bearing 33 extends transversely and under the outer end of member 22 and rests upon a wedge 34, so that movement of said wedge 34 to the left, by means presently to be described, results in a lifting of the outer end of the member 22 with a consequent movement of the plane of wheel 21 to tilt the top of said wheel inwardly.

A threaded adjusting means 35 is seated in a standard or lug 28-41 at the right-hand portion of member 28 and is so connected at 36 with the wedge 34 that movement of said. adjusting means results in a-progression or retraction of said wedge 34 along the horizontal surface 34' as shown.

A bolt 3'7 similar in character to that illustrated at 29 passes through the bearing 33, the wedge 34, and the members 22 and 28, as shown, to secure said latter members together without binding or nullifying the adjustment feature whereby the grinding wheels may be tilted toward each other.

As above pointed out, both of the grinding wheels are tilted in the same manner and by similar devices and I will not, therefore, describe the mechanism whereby the wheel 20 is tilted except to indicate that said mechanism is similar to that described in connection with wheel 21, and is so coordinated and calibrated with respect to the turn buckles 35 and 35 that the unskilled operator may quickly and accurately make a definite substantially equal adjustment when necessary. Such adjustment is of particular advantage in dealing with springs wherein the thickness of the material may require varying grinding angles between the two wheels to obtain the proper efficiency.

While I have described but one embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that the same is not to be limited by the illustrative embodiment thereof just described. I know of no device on the market where grinding wheels of the character above described may be quickly and accurately varied with respect to their angle of divergence. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that such an adjusting. means in machines of the size and weight here described contribute materially to the production speed and are especially acceptable to the trade because they permit accurate spring grinding of varying sizes and of different materials without shutting down the machine for prolonged periods of time when changes are to be made.

In grinding springs in a machine of this type, the operator stands at the open side of the housing 11 and places the springs such as S (see Fig. 4) in the peripherally disposed apertures 18. The wheel 16 then rotates in the direction of the arrow carrying said springs between the shroud or spring-seating members 19 so that, although the operator may be somewhat careless, the springs will progressively be brought into proper position in the apertures as the wheel 16 carries said springs between the said converging shroud or seating members. The convergence of these members may be best understood from a consideration of Fig. 2.

By the time the wheel 16 has carried the springs to the point A (see Fig. 3), the springs have been definitely and accurately seated in the apertures and are ready'to contact with the grinding wheels 20 and 21. Said wheels 20 and 21 are furthest apart at the point A so that the springs are progressively ground as they are carried upward by said wheel 16 towards the point B, at which approximate point the wheels are the closest together and the grinding is completed.

In this connection, I direct attention to the fact that the just described association of carrier wheel and grinding elements permits the springs to remain in contact with the grinding element for a longer and more continuous period of contact than any machine of which I have knowledge.

The springs have a tendency to revolve rapidly as they leave the grinding wheels which causes the springs to jump out of the cavities or apertures 18. For this reason I provide the shroud 19 at the top of the carrier wheelas shown in Fig. 3so that there will be little or no tendency for the springs to fall out of the carrier wheel.

As the wheel brings the ground springs within the reach of the operator, the latter pushes the unground spring into one side of the aperture thereby displacing the ground spring and seating the unground spring with the same motion.

While I have described my invention in con-' nection with one mechanical embodiment thereof and as used to square the ends of coiled springs, I do not intend. to convey that this is the only use to which such a machine may be put, especially since there are many mechanical grinding operations in connection with which a machine having adjustable grinding elements equivalent to those heretofore described may be used. It is accordingly to be understood that the same is illustrative only, and that many mechanically different machines may be designed embodying the same inventive concept. Such latter machines will not of course be different in inventive concept from that heretofore described. I desire therefore that my invention be limited only by the scope of the prior art and the language of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a grinding apparatus, a machine bed frame, a carrier wheel in which articles to be ground may be placed, opposed grinding wheels between which said carrier wheel moves said articles, shafts to which said grinding wheels are secured, shaft frames in which said shafts .are mounted, said shaft frames being pivotally mounted on said bed frame to be moved to tilt said grinding wheels, said pivotal mounting comprising a cylindrical bearing member between said bed and said shaft frame at one end of the latter, and the other end of said shaft frame resting on a Wedge, and means to move the wedge longitudinally of the frame to tilt the latter about said roller cylindrical member.

2. In a grinding apparatus a machine bed frame, a carrier wheel in which articles to be ground may be placed, opposed grinding wheels between which said carrier moves said articles, shafts to which said grinding wheels are secured, shaft frames in which said shafts are mounted, said shaft frames being pivotally mounted on said bed frame to be moved to tilt said grinding wheels, said pivotal mounting comprising a roller bearing between said bed and said shaft frame at one end of the latter, means for securing said frame to said bed passing through said bearing, and the other end of said shaft frame resting on a wedge, the latter being movable longitudinally of the frame to tilt the latter about said roller bearing, means for securing the last referred to end of the shaft frame to said bed passing through said wedge but permitting said movement of the latter, and means for moving said wedge comprising a means fixed in the bed. frame.

HERBERT W. JOHNSON. 

